Hi everyone,
My friend and I are planning a trip to Kyushu from 24 Oct to 2 Nov this year end. We have a rough idea of what we might want to do, but I feel like we may be missing out on some really cool spots or activities, so we would like to share our rough itinerary here and hope for some helpful comments to improve our trip. For context, I have been to Kyushu before, but it’s my friend’s first time to Japan and I want us to both enjoy this trip as much as possible!
Day 1
Arrive at Fukuoka, staying in Fukuoka city
Day 2
Day trip to Genkai Quasi National Park, Totoro Park, Keya no Ohto
Day 3
Day trip to Dazaifu and Kyushu National Museum
Day 4
Genkai Undersea Observatory Tower
Head to Kumamoto city
Chill at Kumamoto city e.g. visit Kumamoto castle
Day 5
Head down to Kagoshima
Maybe visit Sakurajima
Not sure what else…
Day 6
Head over to Miyazaki
Visit Maoi statues and Udo Jingu
Miyazaki Science Centre
Stay at Miyazaki city
Day 7
Head up to Takachiho Gorge
Ride on the Amatetasu railway
Head to Kurokawa onsen village
Day 8
Climb Mt. Aso
Chill around Kurokawa onsen village
Head to Fukuoka
Day 9
Explore Fukuoka city a bit more
Day 10
Flying off in the morning
The main concerns we have are whether we should drive or get the rail pass and whether we are seeing too little/too much in 9 full days. Any comments will be appreciated, especially if you think there’s a really nice place to check out. Our interests are mostly scenic nature places and good food. Thanks for reading!
2 comments
A lot of these things aren’t accessible by train, so a car would be good for a lot of the trip.
I would at least swap Dazaifu and the National Park (which would probably be best by car) so you can visit one place by train first while you get your bearings.
Day 4: is there any reason the observatory and Kumamoto are paired together? They are in different directions from Fukuoka so this day seems tiring.
Personally I would sort the trip like this:
Fukuoka > Dazaifu day trip > shinkansen to Kumamoto > shinkansen to Kagoshima > train or car to Miyazaki > car to Takachiho > car to Aso/Kurokawa> drive to Fukuoka and see the other areas around more easily accessible by car. Then return car at Fukuoka and pay the one way fee
(If you aren’t visiting the museum the first day because it’s a closing day, you could head straight to Kumamoto then take the day trip after you return the car).
I’m someone who doesn’t love driving and the shinkansen will be faster than a car for a lot of the trip. A 3 day rail pass might be useful for the Fukuoka > Kumamoto > Kagoshima route.
A lot of the places you are visiting are accessible by public transport, but buses will take a lot longer than a car. There’s no way you can do all of this in 9 days without a car. This is a little fast paced for my taste, but I think it’s doable. I spent over a week on just the areas around Nagasaki and Fukuoka, so I like to spend a lot of time in one area.
Sakurajima is very worth it for scenery if you can get there